Fires of Revolution
by MotherOfStories
Summary: Combo of Uprising and Legacy with my own twists. AU with gender bent Sam Flynn and probably will contain Mary-Sueness, so you've been warned. Read if you dare.
1. Chapter 1

Samantha "Sammy" Flynn was raised on stories of Tron by her father Kevin, who disappeared when she was ten. Her mother had never believed the tales, so she claimed he'd run off with a younger woman to the Bahamas and got a divorce without much trouble. Samantha lived with her grandparents for the most part after that and refused to have her mother in her life at all once she turned eighteen. She finished college at the top of her class at her father's old alma mater and as per the deal with her father's old friend Alan Bradley, she was given the key to her father's office at ENCOM. The board of directors didn't like her much, since she like her father insisted on giving the public their updates for free. What they didn't know is she was there to look for clues, only putting her foot down when they did something she knew her father wouldn't have approved of either, which turned out to be a lot.

To take her mind off work, she went to her father's old arcade and started cleaning it up in her spare time. She uncovered the game TRON, her father's most prized invention and discovered a hidden passage behind it to a secret office. "I knew you had another office, Dad." She muttered to herself, looking around. There were dusty cabinets and computer on a desk with a lamp, all of them covered in cobwebs. She cleaned them away and got the computer to work again, which she looked through for clues. She found hints that her father had figured a way into the digital frontier, just like he'd said. She saw what he'd done when she saw the coding and didn't realize she was opening a back door in, the same one her father always used.

The next thing she knew, she was being sucked into a vortex that pulled her in and she landed right in the middle of glowing streets and dashed out of view just in time before vehicles powered by light flew by. "The Grid." She whispered in awe as she looked around and saw buildings which varied in height from normal size to as tall as skyscrapers, if not higher towering above her. _Now I just need to find my father, though something tells me I need to be discreet. He should have returned on his own years ago, so something must be wrong._ She thought to herself and incopacitated the first program she came across that was by themselves. "It's nothing personal, I just need to blend in." She told the unconscious female while she took their clothes.

The first thing she did was get a job at a mechanic's shop and fit in just enough not to draw attention to herself. With the money she earned, she saved up and bought her own lightcycle and as she customized it in her free time, she slowly learned what happened: Clu had taken over the whole system, Tron was thought to be dead and her father hadn't been seen since Tron's downfall. Samantha knew from the stories about Tron he could still be alive, but there was no sign he might be while innocent programs were oppressed by Clu, so someone had to do something. She used some of her savings to make a specialized suit, which made her Tron's height and sound like a man as long as she wore the helmet that hid her face from view. She put all terrain tires on her lightcycle and programmed it to be white with no identifying markings after curfew.

She did the things Tron would have done and a few believers on the Grid were hopeful because of the return of their protector. Everyone else was skeptical and called her the Renegade, a menace to Clu's perfect order. Honestly, she liked the name Renegade because it meant she was different than her childhood hero/crush. One night, she had just freed some programs that had been on their way to the Games when she was attacked by a member of Clu's task force and fought fiercely against them, though there was something eerily familiar in the way they moved till it dawned on her just as their laser disk impacted with her face and knocked her unconscious.

She woke to find herself bound in electrical restraints that would have chopped off a program's hands if they'd tried to break free. Since she wasn't a program, it would hurt like hell and probably draw blood while electricuting her because it tightened every time escape was attempted, therefore not worth the risk. She looked around and noticed she was in a large room with no decorations and the windows were tinted so no one could see in or out. By the lack of sounds outside, she ascertained she wasn't on the Grid any more just before the helmeted man walked inside.

"You are in violation of several codes, program."

"I think you and I both know I'm not a program... Tron."

He stopped in front of her as if surprised, then the helmet disappeared to reveal his familiar face. It was distorted by a long blue gash that went down passed his neck. "So it is you, Sammy."

She nodded slowly. "What happened to you? Why haven't you healed?"

"Clu." He replied darkly, releasing her restraints. "Whatever he did to his disk, even my adaptable programming can't counter. I managed to get away once your father had fled at my insistence, but the damage was already done. Now I hover between life and death, slowly deteriorating despite making a containment tank that staves off the worst of the corruption."

"There's got to be a way to fix the problem." She looked him over and mused at how much he really did look like a much younger Alan. "Can I see your disk?"

He handed it over and watched her pull up his information. "It's been so long I almost forgot what Users are capable of."

"No sign of my father?"

"Not since Clu took over. He was forced into hiding after he thought I was dead."

She sighed softly, handing him back his disk. "With this much damage to your coding, only a full purge could fix it. Unfortunately, the only place to get a purge like that is Clu's recoding facility... though you probably already knew that."

He nodded gravely and put his disk back in it's slot. "I'd never make it out of there without help. Even then the risk of me being recoded is dangerously high."

"It might be your only option besides dying, Tron. Your programming once purged should have it's full adaptability again, so even if Clu thinks he's made you a soldier of his you won't be. You impersonated a corrupted program before to get to the MPC."

"You really are your father's daughter." He said in amusement. "Let's see if you're right."

"If I'm not, I will find a way to fix you."

He smiled in a way that reminded her she was a woman that was very attracted to him. "A User willing to fight for me, now there's something I never thought I'd see."

She cleared her throat and managed to reply: "You fight for us, it's about time someone was in your corner." _Don't let yourself get too attached, he's a program and there's no way he'd be interested in a User._ She thought to herself as she followed him out into the unknown region beyond the Grid.


	2. Chapter 2

Clu's nearest recoding facility was a three hour drive by lightcycle from Tron's base and there was only one vehicle, so Sammy rode behind him and tried not think about how close he was due to the fact that she had to hold onto him unless she wanted to fall off. However, the more she attempted to keep thoughts of him from her head, she'd notice things like how he handled the vehicle as she felt his muscles compensate for every turn or gear shift effortlessly and then her mind would be full of nothing but him. When they finally arrived, she felt glad she wasn't a man otherwise it would be obvious she'd enjoyed the ride more than she would have liked to admit. She followed him to the roof and they slipped inside with a retractable rope hookup on their belts. Silently, they took out the guards in one of the booths and Tron stepped onto the platform. His gaze met hers across the room as she pressed a button on the console and realized he trusted her with his life in more than the metaphorical sense. That thought flattered and terrified her because she knew even if she stopped the machine on time, the risk of corruption was still very strong. The coding in the panel told her once "re-purposed" by Clu's machine, there was no way to return the program to it's original format without the master disk, which was in her father's possession and not even Tron knew where he'd disappeared to.

"I believe in you, Tron." She whispered as she pressed another button that shut down the procedure just before the recoding phase and held her breath.

Tron looked like his old self as he walked over to her. "This feels too easy."

She nodded with a frown. "A bit yeah, let's get out of here."

They slipped out the way they'd come in, only to be nearly blinded by the search light of one of Clu's ships. Tron grabbed her and jumped off the building before they were fired on. They ran to the lightcycle and she held on for dear life as Tron drove like she'd never seen him before outside of her dreams. The ship might have been almost as fast in the air, but it wasn't nearly as manuverable and was no match for Tron's evasion skills and lost visual on them in the mountains.

"Do you trust me?" He called over the wind as they approached a giant crevasse no vehicle should ever be able to clear.

"Of course!"

He flicked a switch on the lightcycle and readied his climbing cable. "Then hold on tight, we're going to jump!"

She realized he meant off the bike instead of with it and gripped him tighter. She held her breath as they leaped off at the same time the vehicle launched across the ravine. He hooked the cable onto a rock nearby to catch their fall. Overhead, she heard the lightcycle explode on impact when it landed on the other side. Adrenaline rushed through her and her heart pounded so loudly against her chest she was sure he could hear it. "Sorry about your bike."

"It was no longer of use to me with a tracking beacon attached." He tugged firmly on the cable twice when they were safely on the ground, which made it unhook from the rock high above them. "With no time to remove it, annihilation was the only only option to keep it out of Clu's hands. Besides, our lives are more important than a machine."

"What a very human thing to say."

He smiled at her faintly surprised expression. "Your father always said I was more like a human than a program. I always assumed it was in the metaphorical sense till we talked one evening and I learned I have gained the same values from my experiences as normal people do. I asked if that made me like a child and your father laughed and said that the biggest kept secret in the universe was everyone is like a child in a way."

She felt herself smile back. "Sounds like something he'd say. He was always telling me as long as I was child like and not childish that was fine."

"What is the difference between the two?"

"Child-like usually refers to characteristics such as humility, giving and kindness. Childish means you're selfish, stubborn and will throw fits or act out for attention."

Tron nodded thoughtfully as he led the way through the canyon. "Makes sense. Clu is very much the latter these days, though when first created he was more like the first. His idea of perfection caused mass genocide and regular programs fear of being unique from everyone else. I know his ideas are based on concepts he misunderstood after his creation, but he let himself become corrupted instead of listening to reason."

"Plenty of humans are like that too. World wars have started because of people who thought themselves superior to everyone else. The countries they took over were forced to comply or perish, all while the rulers told themselves it would last forever. Clu at least doesn't have thousands of years of records to remind him that people eventually rise up against tyranny, though if there were he'd ignore it just like all the others who got into power."

"Most likely. He wants the master disk to be able to open the portal to the outside world because this one is already his."

Sammy suppressed a shudder as she imagined Clu terrorizing humans with weapons easily rebuilt in seconds if shattered and the stationary fields installed in all his aircraft that froze everything it touched in place. "It's a good thing my dad went into hiding. Humans wouldn't stand a chance against Clu and his ideas of perfection, not without the same gear. I'm not even sure guns would have any affect on your physical forms."

Tron hmmmed. "It would be better for both worlds if we never find out. Watch your step, this path has large boulders."

She nodded as he helped her around one as tall as her hip. "What is this place anyway?"

"Your father wanted to turn this into a racing area for off-road vehicles both in the air and on the ground, much like the lightcycle competition in the Games back when it didn't mean death to anyone who lost. He said he was going to put in creatures, rock slides and other things to make it challenging, but he never got around to it. It comes in handy for evading soldiers though, since they don't bother to come out here beyond the Grid very often. That will change now that we've used it as an escape route, just like we can't return to my closer base as it was compromised the moment they put a tracking device onto my vehicle."

"I'm causing you nothing but trouble, aren't I?" She looked down in guilt.

He smiled gently as he brushed some hair out of her face and tilted her chin up so her eyes met his. "Nothing I wouldn't do on my own. Thanks to you I can finally start my campaign against Clu again and if we work together, not even he can stand against us."

Her heart hammered against her rib cage as she took a deep breath. "Then let's get to work."

"I thought you would say that." He pressed an obscure looking niche on the side of the mountain and the stone rolled away to reveal a massive cavern with unmarked vehicles and weapons and detailed maps of the Grid. "Welcome to the storage and office your father set up for the competition. I've been using it as a secondary base and a place to get lightcycles since I can't go shopping for one like a normal program."

"Looks like I'll have to do that too since they saw my face...or there's the potential they did, anyway."

He nodded solemnly. "I agree, it's not worth the risk. There's a bedroom in the back where you can sleep."

"What about you?" She sighed when he shrugged. "I know you need rest too sometimes, Tron. At least promise me you'll sleep in the bed and not somewhere uncomfortable."

"Even if you're in it?"

"Yes, it's just a bed. Not like I plan on taking over the whole thing."

He appreciated how she treated him like he was human too and knew she was right, so he nodded after he'd studied her face for a moment. "Very well. I promise when I need to rest, I will use the bed."

"Thank you." She sighed in relief and left to see about a shower.


	3. Chapter 3

"I thought adding weapons to lightcycles was considered unstable." Sammy said when Tron showed her the modifications he'd been making since their arrival.

"Yes and no. If you don't know what you're doing, it can be dangerous. Your father figured out the coding necessary and was going to add it to all of these vehicles as a form of self defense against the challenges in the off road games. It's not meant to kill, merely stun opponents long enough for you to get away. I thought yours should have this feature in case something happens to me."

She swallowed the lump in her throat as she remembered their narrow escape. "Don't talk like that, the Grid needs you. I pretended to be you, but the truth is half the time I questioned if I even made the same choice you would have."

"I'll let you in on a little known secret, Sammy." He held her gaze so intently she thought he could read her mind. "When your father brought me over from the system I was designed for, I didn't know what to do. I constantly wondered if I was chosing what was best for everyone. The parameters I was used to no longer applied and I felt that left too much room for error. However, the longer I was here and saw how the Grid grew and learned as I did, I realized the possibility of mistakes is what ultimately allowed us to achieve perfection without even knowing till it was gone. I am not without imperfection and my programming doesn't make me an all powerful protector either. I merely use those as my guide to doing the right thing."

"You really are amazing, Tron." She managed to say at last after getting over her surprise. "Even Users aren't usually so candid."

He smiled faintly. "Does that mean you will let me teach you how to defeat me?"

She sighed. "Yes, but don't expect me to be happy about."

"I won't." He promised and pulled out his disk. "Now show me more of what you can do."

She pulled out hers and they started circling each other. She'd heard stories about Tron's skills from her father countless times, yet he'd never even indicated there was a chance Tron could lose. Clu had taken over the system after Tron had disappeared and presumed dead, which she knew he considered defeat even if he'd gotten away alive. She knew he wanted to make sure she could overpower him if Clu managed to "re-purpose" his programming, but she didn't think she had it in her to kill him. She winced when he landed a punch and told herself not to get distracted. She meant what she'd said about finding a way to fix him, so that's what she would do in the worst case scenario. She blocked his strikes and watched him for any sign of weakness as he moved, his motions different from a person's.

"You're looking at this from the wrong angle, Sammy." His fist made contact with her side. "I don't experience physical pain the same way you do or have old injuries that would tell you where I'd show hesitation."

"How do you know about that?"

"Your father and I had long discussions about the differences between programs and Users. I may look human, but coding is what runs through my body the way blood flows through yours."

She realized he was right and started thinking like a programmer instead. Tron had been designed to fight against computer viruses and other forms of corruption, but like he had said that didn't mean he was perfect. It was so easy to forget he was a physical embodiment of code, yet that was the reason she didn't think she had a chance with him. She tried different tactics as they fought and finally managed to knock him down and kept him there.

"Good job, you passed phase one."

"Phase one?" She asked as she caught her breath, muscles burning from how long the fight had gone on. "Just how many phases do you have?"

He sat up next to her. "That's for me to know and you to find out as what you can do improves. You've clearly had previous experience in self defense and hand to hand combat, which is good. Means you know things no other program would and gives you the advantage."

"Isn't it a disadvantage to me if you know what I am capable of?"

"I may be adaptable, but I don't have your level of versatility. I would never be able to forgive myself if I came back and found that you'd died to fix me."

She eyed him thoughtfully. "And how do you think I would feel if you died protecting me, Tron?"

"That's what I was made for. It's not your job to save me."

"You're wrong. In the absence of my father, I'm the only Flynn on the Grid with the power to uncorrupt you."

"Stop being so stubborn, Sammy. Your father is still alive down here and this is his problem, not yours."

She threw her hands in the air. "News flash for you Tron: I'm as stubborn as my old man and he isn't around to fix his problems. I don't know where he is any more than you do and if he's in hiding that means he can't help us. If you want Clu defeated, you're going to have to let me take risks. I know I could die, but since the portal closed a long time ago I can't exactly go back without the master disk. You said we would work together and yet you're acting like you're the only one who can protect me while saying I need to be ready to take you out. That's a conflict of interest."

He actually smiled a little. "Your father was right, you are too much like him for your own good."

"Yeah well, that's a typical Flynn for you." She said dryly.

"You are right though, your father hasn't surfaced for many cycles. After my presumed death, I heard he tried to fight back against Clu and Clu just kept getting stronger. I don't know if it's because Clu was created as a mirror of your father or what, but I'm sure your father disappeared regardless to protect what was left of the system."

"Still think this isn't my job?"

He rose to his feet and held his hand out to her and helped her to her to her feet. "Not any more. I now believe in you the way you believe in me, which I should have been doing from the beginning. Will you forgive me?"

She smiled slightly. "I think I can manage that since no one's perfect. Do we still have to have fighting lessons?"

"Perhaps just once a month now that you've gotten the concept of what is necessary. That should give you more of an advantage."

"You've got yourself a deal."

He smiled and shook her hand.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam mounted the finished lightcycle with a low whistle of admiration. "You really know how to make a good bike, Tron."

He watched her rev the engine. "Your father believed everyone should be capable of designing their own equipment, but not everyone has the knack I seem to."

"I didn't think I was gonna be good at it till one summer my granddad had me help him with his car. Of course building vehicles in your world is more of a programmer thing among Users, but I got plenty of background in that too. Grandad always said it was because we Flynns are naturally adaptive in the technological world."

"Versatility is definitely a useful trait. You want to take a test drive?"

She smiled as he mounted his lightcycle and the secret exit slid open. "I thought you would never ask. See if you can keep up, Tron."

"I think it will you trying to keep up with me, Sammy." He replied with a glint in his eyes.

"You want to make a bet on that?"

His smile reminded her of a devil-may-care one Alan had flashed her when she'd asked if her having her father's office keys was a good idea. "Winner gets to choose the chores the loser does for a week."

"You're on." She took off as adrenaline rushed through her bloodstream. She'd done some street racing in the real world and on the Grid as well, but the terrain wasn't the same even compared to either of her previous experiences. Her father had made everything out here like untamed wilderness, so standard equipment wouldn't work outside the Grid. She found the handling was similar to driving on dirt, but far more uneven. She could see why her father had wanted to use this place for racing competitions, the view alone was amazing with mountains and canyons and tunnels to be conquered. The layout was quite extensive as she and Tron weaved across the landscape in an almost dance as they passed each other back and forth. She found herself forgetting this was supposed to be a competition every now and then, having to refocus her attention on what she was doing.

Suddenly, Tron deactivated his bike, jumped towards her, pounced as he deactivated hers as well and they rolled into a nook. He put a finger to her lips as some patrol planes appeared overhead.

"I thought they stopped looking out here." She whispered when they disappeared.

"They did for a while, but apparently they resumed it in hopes of finding me. Time for us to make an appearance on the Grid." He stood first and looked around. "So much for completing the race."

"I think you win by default, since you kept us from getting caught." She brushed herself off as she got up.

He looked her over. "You okay?"

She shrugged. "Nothing's broken. I'd prefer more warning next time though."

"I can't make any promises, but I'll try for you Sammy." He surprised her by hugging her. "You could have gotten hurt."

"I'm fine, Tron. Now what was that about us making a visit to the Grid?"

He didn't let go of her like she thought he would. "I was thinking we need to remind the other programs they have a choice to fight back. There are some who have already been rebelling in whatever ways they can despite Clu's tightening grip. Getting them all together would be too dangerous, so one of my underground contacts should help us come up with some ideas."

"You sure you can trust that program?"

"How do you think I knew you were here?" He asked almost teasingly.

She eyed him, his face so close to hers if he'd been human she'd have thought he was going to kiss her. "The giant beam of light in the sky, naturally."

"But if that was all I needed for your exact location, Clu would have found you first."

His intent gaze and closeness were arousing her and it was a good thing she was a woman or it would have been obvious. "You mean your contact is my old boss Able?"

"One of them. We fought together to protect the ISOS during the war before we figured out Clu was the one actually behind it. Dyson was his lapdog the entire time apparently."

"I thought Dyson was one of your men."

His eyes darkened just visibly. "I thought so too until his betrayal left me how you found me. Since then trust has been rather difficult."

She impulsively touched his face before she could stop herself, though she noticed he didn't stop her or pull away. "I don't think anyone would blame you for that. Come on, let's get back to the hideout for now."

"Agreed. You get kitchen duty tonight."

"As you wish."

He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as they headed back to their hideout without any more excitement. He worked on the bikes while she cooked and cleaned. She ran herself a bath later and in the quiet that followed, she couldn't help but overhear Tron make a call to Able.

"Tron, this is a surprise."

"Long time no see, Able. Base One has probably been compromised, we had a patrol overhead today that was uncomfortably close. It's too easy for them to locate me in the middle of nowhere. I can't take that risk any more."

"Agreed. Our recon spot is still safe, let's meet there."

"Thank you, Able."

"Nice to see you well again, Tron. How's Sam holding up?"

"She's just as stubborn as her old man." He sounded like he was smiling.

"Yeah, I noticed she had a lot of her father in her. Too much for you to handle?"

"No, I like her spirit. The Grid needs determination like hers to feed the flames of this rebellion. We'll meet up with you tomorrow, Able."

"Tomorrow it is, Tron."

She climbed out of the tub, dried off and dressed. She headed back to the bedroom and found Tron already there in bed and crawled in next to him. "We're leaving tomorrow?"

"We certainly can't stay here any longer. Among other programs we can hide and disappear far easier."

She nodded. "I agree. Good night, Tron."

"Good night, Sammy."


	5. Chapter 5

Tron and Sammy met Able on the Grid in what turned out to be the secret basement under Able's garage. Able was their eyes and ears during the day and would fill them in on Clu's activities. Rebellion continued to grow amidst the programs as Tron's attacks against Clu made it easier for those that were disgruntled to slip through the cracks in the system. Of course it still wasn't enough to topple the empire Clu had created for himself, let alone dethrone the corrupted program and take out his lackeys. Clu always came out with some new scheme to threaten the Grid's populace like an air borne virus that made all programs exposed loyal to Clu as long as they were infected. It had taken a while to get the antidote right, even with all three of them working together and they found it didn't work if it wasn't ministered with the first few hours of incubation. Sammy and Tron were stretched thin getting the antidote to as many as possible when Tron's old apprentice Cyrus who had gone rogue showed up and captured Sammy by pretending to be one of the victims.

His underground base was in the middle of nowhere and he tied her to a pole as bait for Tron. "Now all we need is the hero himself to rescue you."

"You're crazy if you think he's going to walk into your trap." She spat.

"Oh I'm crazy either way Little Sam, but if he doesn't come here for you in twenty-four hours I'm going to take you to Clu. He would reward me handsomely for giving him leverage against your father and Tron."

"Oh he'll reward you alright, by giving you a quick de-rez."

Cyrus laughed. "You poor naïve child, you don't know the first thing about the Game."

She glared. "You think so, huh? I know it's changed and Clu doesn't ever play by the rules."

"That may be true, but you don't need to fret about my well-being. I'm always a step ahead."

"At least one of Tron's traits rubbed off on you because that statement was as cocky as they come."

Cyrus's smile made her feel sick to her stomach. "What can I say, Little Sam? Some habits die hard." He walked away without another word, leaving her alone in the dim lights of his base that flickered like a candle.

Sammy tried to stay awake, but was so exhausted from double shifts that her eyes closed against her will and she woke with a start as an engine roar filled the cylindrical walls around her, getting her heart racing as her adrenaline kicked in. A familiar lightcycle with an equally familiar rider raced down at neck-breaking speeds, dodging all the traps Cyrus had set up like they were nothing.

"Tron, wait-" She called as he reached for her and an electric current knocked him off his bike.

"At last, my old mentor has come to pay for the crime of tossing me aside. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist a damsel in distress." Cyrus casually strode in and took off the face guard. "You're not Tron."

"No, but I do a pretty good impression of him." Able replied with a groan, sitting up slowly. "I see you're still acting like a spoiled child."

"Don't sass me, old man! You're way passed your prime!" He lifted his hand to hit Able, but the blow never struck as a disc took off his arm at the elbow.

"You should be respectful to your elders, Cyrus." Tron said darkly, catching his weapon. "Especially when addressing your father."

"Father?" Sammy gasped.

"I don't have a father!" Cyrus gripped his amputated arm. "Well? What are you waiting for? Finish me!"

"You may have taken the daughter of our Creator captive, but I made a promise to an old friend he would decide what to do about you. He's all yours, Able." Tron untied Sammy and led her out into the night. "I should have told you about Cyrus, I'm sorry."

She mounted behind him on the lightcycle. "I'm sure you had good reasons for not mentioning him. What will Able do with him?"

He shrugged. "No idea, but Able was pretty angry when we got the message from Cyrus. We knew it would be a trap for me and we both know his base because we helped him build it back when he was my apprentice. I trained him in hopes he would be the next Tron and he showed lots of potential and progressed faster than I thought. Then he started acting erratically, doing dangerous things that put other programs at risk and went off the Grid when I confronted him. I've been keeping an eye on him for Able, making sure he didn't cause too much trouble and then he crossed the line with you."

"I thought programs couldn't have children, but Cyrus did look a lot like Able."

"At first that was the case, then we all evolved as the Grid did under your father's guidance. Able got married and started a family while I protected the Grid and then the ISOS showed up and Clu started his purge. Everything changed after that." He parked the lightcycle in the underground basement. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I was just worried about you. Cyrus seemed very unstable and anticipated every move you could make. Not that he has much imagination for variety."

Tron smiled, helping her off. "I didn't teach him everything, though his ego certainly let him think so. Even so, I appreciate your concern on my behalf. I was worried about you too, though I doubted Cyrus would actually hurt you if he wanted to present you as a prize to Clu. Still wasn't worth risking to see if he was bluffing, so Able and I came up with a plan to rescue you."

"He's really good at impersonating you, he even had me fooled."

"That's what happens when you've been friends for many cycles."

She smiled. "It's nice to see you still trust him."

"I trust you too, Sammy."

"I am touched." She kissed his cheek affectionately. "You think we can take a night off?"

He nodded. "We have been running ourselves ragged and that virus is finally under control, so a break is definitely a good idea. Come on, let's get some sleep."

She let him lead the way back to their shared room where she got in bed with him and fell asleep again.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam woke to find Tron gone and wasn't really surprised. She showered and put on clean clothes and headed to the kitchen to generate some food and after she ate she made some modifications to her suit and bike.

"You're hard at work early."

"Old habits die hard when your former boss has everyone on the crack-of-dawn shift."

Able laughed. "Guilty as charged. Tron left before dawn this morning and said to tell you he would meet up with you later."

"Any explanation as to what he would be doing?"

"None whatsoever."

She withheld a sigh. "I dislike when he goes off by himself, even though he's more than capable of staying under the radar."

"He is, but that doesn't make your concern unwarranted. Clu is hunting the two of you intently."

"Yeah. Seems like no matter what we do, Clu's always one step ahead."

Able nodded. "It was worse before your father dropped off the Grid. The harder he fought against Clu, the stronger Clu became."

"And he was trapped down here with no way to erase Clu's program. We Flynns always seem to end up in impossible situations."

"You'll figure a way out."

"I hope so. There are times I wonder if my dad is still alive down here, but if he was dead Tron thinks my disk would become the one capable of opening the portal back home and we already tried that."

"You two certainly spend a lot of time together."

She felt herself blush a bit as she sighed. "It's not like that, Able."

"That's a shame. You two have a lot in common."

"Programs and humans don't mix."

Able shrugged. "Not in the past, but the future might be different."

She was saved from answering by Able's work timer going off to remind him he needed to go back and that was exactly what he did. She knew he was just trying to help and there were plenty of times she wished that something romantic would happen with Tron, though so far nothing had. They were busy encouraging programs to rebel and trying to find ways to weaken or disable Clu's progress and nothing had worked. She wished her father were with them to give council, but no one had seen him since shortly after the Purge when Clu had wiped out all the ISOS.

She took a break from working on her lightcycle when it was lunch time and munched on what she had generated while going over the latest intel on Clu. She'd read over it about five times since Able had brought it underground and even after their latest discussion, she knew they were no closer to figuring out how to stop Clu from reprogramming masses of subjects both out and inside of the Games. A surprisingly large number voluntarily joined the military or participated for "glory" in the Games, while the rest had been arrested for crimes against Clu and were forced to fight and found they weren't free even if they won.

She would have probably ended up there if she hadn't been so cautious upon her arrival and the fact that she was a User would have been exposed in front of the entire Grid and caused quite the uproar among those faithful to Clu. He'd used their fear and fanned the flames of prejudice, convincing a great deal of the populace he had liberated them from the oppression of the User after her father had disappeared off the Grid. Plenty of programs blindly accepted this without question, just like a human if their leader used the right words to flatter and deceive. Clu was obviously very cunning and he showed no hesitation in removing those who questioned him by derezzing or repurposing them into his soldiers.

 _Yet what he really wants is Tron and I to force my father's hand, but he should have noticed the beacon in the sky same as Tron and didn't so anything. I suppose there's a chance he might not have seen it, though that doesn't make it better. Able said my dad stopped fighting because Clu just kept getting stronger and we seem to be having very little luck weakening him. Our efforts seem to have little or no affect and that takeover virus we just combated proves Clu will do anything for complete control of the whole Grid. We have been hammering away at the outside of his rule for a cycle, so perhaps it's time we changed tactics._

 _He was told to create the perfect system and thinks he is fulfilling that command. Dad told me he made Clu in his own image, so he has similar points of view and goals that my father had too at the time. Alan always said bringing the digital frontier into our world was his biggest dream, though I don't think I got how literal that was till I got down here. Dad would have never wanted Clu to wipe out humans, but considering the fact of how imperfect our world would look to him, Clu would feel as if he didn't have a choice except to wipeout or enslave everyone. I wish we had someone on the inside, someone who could tell us his every move much longer before he makes it and where he's most vulnerable while there's still time to strike since he has a habit of protecting places he can be hurt quickly. Able's indicated one of his informants named Zeus likes to play all the angles, therefore cannot be trusted and it would be too risky for me to go undercover._

 _Tron would do better, but I am hesitant to bring that up because it puts him at greater risk of being reprogrammed. I know it's ultimately his decision, however I know his answer will be an unhesitating yes. He already knows what's at stake and will do anything to free the Grid he's sworn to protect, no matter the cost. It's why we've been fighting so hard and taking more chances than have been taken before, so I am being selfish in my hesitancy in hopes of keeping him safe when there's no such thing while Clu rules. I will talk to Tron as soon as he returns._


End file.
